Eyewear

Abstract

Improved eyeglasses are disclosed that have improvements in comfort, safety, wear ability, and convenience, based upon improvements in the contact (bearing) surfaces where the eyeglasses touch the body by providing air passages, hydrophobic surfaces and/or ratchet-tooth-like structures to promote motion from the bottom of the lenses in front toward the end of earpieces in the back of the head; to methods, articles, etc. for providing such improvements; and to methods for improving acceptance of such improved eyeglasses, especially improved methods of doing business.

1. Eyeglasses having lenses, earpieces and nosepieces and at least one surface area that is in contact with wearer's skin that is hydrophobic and provides airways for acration of the skin so as to help keep the skin dry and provides less resistance to slippage in the upward direction, the backward direction, or both the upward and backward direction with respect to the wearer's face to keep the eyeglasses in position. 
     
     
       2. The eyeglasses of  claim 1  wherein said surface area is in contact with the nose, ears, or nose and ears, and said surface area has airways to permit air to reach the skin and which have a hydrophobic surface to allow moisture to move away from the skin. 
     
     
       3. The eyeglasses of  claim 2  wherein said surface area is in contact with the nose, ears, or nose and ears, and wherein at least one of said surfaces is a ratchet-tooth-like surface that provides less resistance to slippage in the direction of the ends of the earpieces starting from the bottom of the lenses as compared to the resistance to slippage in the opposite direction to keep the eyeglasses in position. 
     
     
       4. The eyeglasses of  claim 1  wherein at least one of said surface areas in contact with the skin provides less resistance to slippage in the direction of the ends of the earpieces starting from the bottom of the lenses as compared to the resistance to slippage in the opposite direction to keep the eyeglasses in position. 
     
     
       5. The eyeglasses of  claim 1  wherein said surfaces are provided by a hydrophobic pile surface where said pile surface is formed from the ends of; fibers; threads, or loops of fiber or threads, or mixtures of at least two of said fibers, and loops of threads, said fibers or threads being more hydrophobic than skin. 
     
     
       6. The eyeglasses of  claim 5  wherein said pile surface is provided by pile fabric having the individual pile ends slanted in the direction of the bottom of the lenses starting from the ends of the earpieces. 
     
     
       7. The eyeglasses of  claim 6  wherein said pile fabric is attached to said eyeglasses by adhesive means, hook and loop means, magnetic attraction means, or combinations of these means. 
     
     
       8. The eyeglasses of  claim 1  wherein said surface area is solid, foam, or a pile. 
     
     
       9. A pad for attachment to conventional eyeglasses to create the eyeglasses of  claim 1 . 
     
     
       10. The pad of  claim 9  for attachment to either (1) a nose piece of eyeglasses or (2) an earpiece of eyeglasses, said pad comprising a hydrophobic pile fabric having the individual pile ends slanted in one direction and having an adhesive layer attached to the backing of said pile fabric for attaching said fabric to the eyeglasses and, optionally, a release layer over said adhesive layer. 
     
     
       11. The pad of  claim 10  which either; (1) bears indicia to indicate the direction of the slant of the pile ends; (2) is in a package in association with instructions to place the pad on the eyeglasses with the individual pile ends slanted to the front of the glasses for the pads attached to the earpieces and downward for the pads attached to the nosepiece; or (3) which is characterized by both (1) and (2). 
     
     
       12. The pad of  claim 10  wherein said adhesive layer is provided by a two sided adhesive tape. 
     
     
       13. The pad of  claim 10  having indicia to indicate which direction the individual pile ends slant. 
     
     
       14. The pad of  claim 9  suitable for attachment to an earpiece comprising elastic tubing with an outer pile surface. 
     
     
       15. A kit for preparing the pad of  claim 9  comprising a two sided adhesive tape, a pile fabric, and instructions for attaching the backing of a pile fabric to one side of the adhesive tape and attaching the other side of the adhesive tape to a skin contact area of eyeglasses. 
     
     
       16. The method of preparing a pad for use to create the said surface area of  claim 1 , comprising attaching backing of a hydrophobic pile fabric to one side of a two-sided adhesive tape; the other side of said two-sided adhesive tape being used to attach the completed pad to the skin contact surface area of the eyeglasses. 
     
     
       17. The method of improving the fit of eyeglasses on a wearer, improving the skin safety of said wearer, or improving both said fit and said skin safety, comprising marketing to said wearer a pad, or a kit comprising a two-sided adhesive tape and a hydrophobic pile fabric, which can be used to create eyeglasses according to  claim 1  in association with instructions for creating said eyeglasses and with a claim for the benefits of skin safety; improved fit stability; or both improved skin safety and improved fit stability, to improve the acceptance and use of said pad or said kit by the wearer. 
     
     
       18. A method of improving the fit of eyeglasses on a wearer, improving the skin safety of said wearer, or improving both said fit and said skin safety, comprising marketing an adhesive pad characterized by having a hydrophobic pile fabric with the pile slanted in one direction for creating the eyeglasses of  claim 1  where said pad is marketed in association with instructions to place the pad on the eyeglasses at one or more of the skin contact surfaces with the pile slanted in the direction of the bottom front of the eyeglasses with respect to said wearer's face. 
     
     
       19. The method of improving the fit of eyeglasses on a wearer, improving the skin safety of said wearer, or improving both said fit and said skin safety, in which the eyeglasses of  claim 1  are fitted on said wearer by an eye care professional. 
     
     
       20. The method of improving the fit of eyeglasses on a wearer, improving the skin safety of said wearer, or improving both said fit and said skin safety, by preparing eyeglasses having lenses, earpieces and nosepieces and at least one surface area that is in contact with the wearer's skin that is hydrophobic and provides airways for aeration of the skin so as to help keep the skin dry and provide less resistance to slippage in the upward direction, the backward direction, or both the upward and backward directions, with respect to the wearer's face, to keep the eyeglasses in position, and marketing said eyeglasses in association with a claim for the benefits of: skin safety improved fit stability; or both improved skin safety and improved fit stability, to improve the acceptance and use or said eyeglasses.